The small claims court is usually the best way to get back your money or for challenging an unfair fine but this was not what happened to Suleman Sattar when he became embroiled in a battle with a parking company over an unpaid fine and found himself being taken to the small claims court and then left feeling unjustly treated when the hearing went ahead without him.
Suleman, 40, from Finchley in north London, had been hit with a £100 ticket last March for using his friend’s parking space in a private road on a housing estate near Colindale.
Speaking to The Times newspaper Suleman says his friend had given him permission to park there and so he refused to pay the fine. The parking firm took him to court.
He was given a hearing date of February 13, at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch county court in London. He prepared an 18-page dossier of evidence to support his case, including a statement from his friend confirming that he had permission to park in his space.
Suleman, a property investor with two young children, took the day off work to arrive an hour early for the hearing, ready to present his case before a judge. It had been scheduled to start after midday; the time was printed in bold type on an official court letter.
A solicitor for the parking company had been sent a different letter, with a 10am starting time, and the hearing had taken place then, denying Suleman the chance to argue his case. He showed his own letter to a member of court staff and was told the judgment would be struck out and another hearing arranged.
Suleman was given a new court date — Wednesday April 9. He informed the court he could not attend on that date, however, and had already paid the fine.
However, this did not stop the court sending him yet another letter confirming the hearing date, which it later said had been done in error.
